By Elena Vardon and Ian Walker

Switzerland's Zurich Insurance launched an improved bid for Beazley, valuing the U.K. cyber insurer at 7.67 billion pounds ($10.27 billion), after its board rejected an offer earlier this month.

Beazley shares jumped to a record high on Monday after Zurich said it submitted a plan to buy the company for 12.80 pounds a share--at a generous 56% premium based on Friday's closing price of 8.20 pounds.

The stock traded 40% higher at around 11.5 pounds in afternoon trading in London, while shares in Zurich--whose market capitalization is more than $100 billion--slipped roughly 1.5% to 569 Swiss francs.

Zurich, which already operates in the U.K. and has a large global footprint, aims to create a business with around $15 billion in gross written premiums with this merger, it said.

Beazley said in a separate statement that the Swiss group approached it with a 12.30 pound-a-share cash proposal on Jan. 4, which its board rebuffed, saying it "significantly undervalued" the company. That offer wasn't disclosed at the time.

"This combination of two highly complementary businesses would establish a leading global specialty platform, based in the U.K. which would also leverage Beazley's Lloyd's of London presence," Zurich said. By making the fresh offer public, the insurer is inviting constructive engagement from Beazley's board and hopes to move forward quickly, it said.

Beazley said it received sweetened proposal on Monday and hasn't had the chance to consider it. "We will update shareholders in due course. In the meantime, Beazley shareholders are urged to take no action," it said.

The approach is the latest in a wave of consolidation that is sweeping the European insurance industry as players look to capture market share and boost profitability. Recently, smaller peers Baloise and Helvetia joined forces to become Switzerland's second-largest insurer after Zurich. U.K. insurer and asset manager Aviva last year completed its takeover of Direct Line in a deal that valued the nonlife insurer at around 3.7 billion pounds. Belgium's Ageas, which had also bid for Direct Line, bought British car-and-home insurer esure Group in a smaller deal in recent months.

Zurich intends to fund the deal with a mix of cash, debt, and an equity placing. It has until Feb. 16 to either make a formal offer to buy Beazley or walk away under the U.K.'s takeover rules.

"We would regard this as a reasonable offer, given the uncertain outlook for Beazley's earnings in coming years as Lloyd's and U.S. market end-markets soften," RBC Capital Markets analysts said in a note to clients.

The announcement is a surprise but perhaps shouldn't be given Zurich's emphasis on specialty lines at its November investor day, Jefferies analysts wrote.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com and to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 19, 2026 11:02 ET (16:02 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.